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THE ARCHIE KENNETH QUAICH COMPETITION
The twenty-seventh annual amateur Piobaireachd competition for the Archie Kenneth Quaich will take place on Saturday, 23rd February 2019, in the rooms of The Royal Scottish Pipers' Society, 127 Rose Street Lane South, Edinburgh, starting at 09.30 a.m. Note th...

The video of the Piobaireachd Concert in St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh on 12th August is now available.
First Half
Introduction by Robert Wallace 0.00-3.57
A Flame of Wrath for Squinting Patrick (Ian K MacDonald) - from 3.57 to 11.36
Beloved Scotland (Glenn Brown) 11.36 - 22.10
Cabar F...

This was our 46th conference.
Full proceedings including videos are available for members here
The presentations were thoughtful, polished, enthusiastic and at times contentious, but the debate was perhaps less vigorous than of yore. Have a look at the report of our very first conference, a...

In response to several enquiries about War or Peace as set this year for the Gold Medal competitions, with the Gesto setting recommended, the following note has been added to the tune page
D movements in ground
The D movements are timed differently in the various scores. Any of these timings...

New compositions by Janette Montague and Matt Turnbull have been added.
Janette's tune is called Mo Chridhe and includes Barluath movements. It is played here by Callum Beumont.
Matt's tune is called Under the Apricot Tree and can be heard here.
This, together with the recent announcement...

Welcome

When the Highlands and Islands of Scotland adopted the bagpipe, perhaps some six hundred years ago, they began to develop the instrument and its music to suit their needs and tastes.

What emerged was the instrument we know today as the Great Highland Bagpipe, and a form of music, piobaireachd (pronounced Pee-broch), which is unique to the instrument. The music consists of a theme (ground) and variations on this theme. The theme can express joy, sadness, or sometimes in the “gathering” tunes , a peremptory warning or call to arms.

The theme is developed in a series of variations, which usually progress to the “crunluath” variation, where the piper’s fingers give a dazzling technical display of embellishment or gracenotes.

The Piobaireachd Society was founded in 1901 to encourage the playing teaching and study of this music.